A 40-something Western Canadian who still thinks he's 24. Dreamer, thinker, photographer, traveler, entrepreneur, software developer. Adores women immensely but is still working hard at trying to understand them! :-)

This is my personal blog and primarily focuses on my photography & videography.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Hat tip to my friend, V, for directing me to this story. It's about 10 sets of seniors on Vancouver Island who have been living in a waterfront trailer park but will be evicted next year.

Some facts:

None own the land that their mobile homes sit on.

Each has been paying about $3,400 per year in rent, which works out to $283.33 per month.

Of course I have sympathy for each individual senior. But to try to paint the new land owners or the government as villains is beyond ridiculousness and unfair. I think most anyone in Canada would appreciate being able to live on waterfront property for less than $300 per month. But when did renting property give one the right to live there forever?

Furthermore, saving on rent for so long, what did these people do with all the money they were saving on rent? Was it invested wisely or spent otherwise? Are the tax dollars of those seniors who skimped on luxuries and vacations all of their lives supposed to bail out those who did not?

I realize that in asking these tough questions, I probably come across as an uncaring bastard. Not so. In my work with BCDD I've come across many seniors like this. For various reasons, they've spent most of their savings all their lives and are practically impoverished by the time they reached retirement. Some may have been swindled, some may have had other unfortunate incidents occur but one has to wonder if many just never thought ahead beyond the "fun years". Now that they're in the predicament they're in, to what degree is the government (which means you & me) supposed to bail them out?

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About Moi

"Pelalusa" is a glorious Spanish-sounding word that means ... well ... absolutely nothing! The word doesn't actually exist. But it sure sounds like it means something!!
While living in Mexico City in 1996/97 I would often ask my friends the meaning of this word and that. One day I asked what "pelalusa" meant, for it just 'sounded' like a word that would mean something en Español. But alas, it does not.

What's With The Ads?

I've launched a new website called Pelalusa.com. Eventually it'll become a fully fledged social networking site but for now it's just a fun travel site, showcasing my journeys and photography. I hope you enjoy it and I always welcome suggestions to improve it.

This new site will be advertising sponsored. What's different about it though is that 50% of the profits (eventually increasing towards 100%) will be donated to philanthropic efforts such as BC Digital Divide. It'll be a global effort, with a particular focus on technology and education.

So I decided to also allow the ads on here too. Please know that I have no control over their content. If some ad does catch your interest, at least you know where the money will be going.

Day & Night

Favourite Quotes

When I was around 12 years old I wrote the following: "Too many get caught up in the noise of everyday life to hear the symphony of what life is really all about."

"The bigger the government grows, the smaller the individual becomes." -- Dennis Prager

"When you take away a person's need to provide for themselves, you take away their humanity." -- Damon Rexroad

"Life is a gift, not an obligation. So make the very best of every single day you're given!" - Donovan Campbell

"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money to spend." -- Margaret Thatcher

"You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream-the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." -- Ronald Reagan

Archive.org

If you'd like to see an amazing site that is full of old commercials, radio programs, and a host of other fascinating memorabilia then click here.

The Cluetrain Manifesto

The Internet is causing an amazing transition to occur about how individuals interact with the companies that they buy from and work for. Most companies are still in denial about even the presence of this change, much to their own peril.
Shown here are the 95 Theses' of the Cluetrain Manifesto:

Smile Time

Multimedia

I've collected together a number of my best flower photos. Each of them has more than sufficient resolution for printing, even as an enlargement. You can download a 46MB Zip file containing many photos by clicking on this image: